T20 World Cup: Leave Abhishek Sharma alone!

Ahmedabad, 19 February – While India’s cricketers strolled into the Narendra Modi Stadium for their lone pre-match hit-out, every camera, every murmur and every practice-ball tracker seemed to orbit one man: Abhishek Sharma. Three matches, three zeros. Four ducks in his last seven T20I innings. Yet, inside the dressing room, the message is unambiguous—do not touch the dashing left-hander’s blueprint.

“He’s got his plan sorted,” batting coach Sitanshu Kotak told TimesofIndia.com after the optional nets, shrugging off the sequence of noughts that has turned the 25-year-old opener from tournament headline act to statistical curiosity. “We unnecessarily don’t over-analyse.”

The numbers, on paper, are jarring. A golden duck against the USA, a four-ball duck versus Pakistan, a stomach infection in between, and suddenly the most feared top-order assassin in India’s high-octane line-up is yet to trouble the scorers in this T20 World Cup. The same batter who averages 35.05 and strikes at 193.29 in the format has spent more time trudging back to the hutch than middling balls into the stands.

Wednesday’s dead-rubber against the Netherlands—India’s Super Eight place already inked—offers him another reprieve, and perhaps the last calm before the knockout storm. On the eve of the contest, Abhishek turned the nets into a private laboratory, facing 40-plus deliveries of concentrated spin from Varun Chakravarthy and Washington Sundar. The towering straight hits were still there, only the timing sounded a shade off, the crack of bat on ball a little less sweet than usual. Head coach Gautam Gambhir watched from behind the adjacent net, letting the left-hander work uninterrupted.

“Last game he got out in the first over,” Kotak said. “In T20 cricket, 10 balls can fetch you 30 runs. That contribution is just as critical. We focus on all players, not only on who’s scoring or not. High-risk cricket means someone will get out somewhere. If we stress, we transfer unnecessary pressure.”

The opposition, however, are stressing plenty. Pakistan head coach Mike Hesson admitted his analysts burnt midnight oil plotting Abhishek’s downfall, a compliment Kotak believes underlines the opener’s impact. “If teams are so concerned, that’s great credit to the way he plays.”

India’s template under captain Suryakumar Yadav and Gambhir is unapologetically fearless: attack from ball one, shift momentum before bowlers settle, accept the odd failure as collateral damage. Abhishek embodies the philosophy more than anyone—see ball, whack ball. When the swing of the arms syncs with the clarity of mind, the runs cascade; when it doesn’t, scorecards like the recent ones emerge.

Kotak insists the method won’t change. “Plans will adjust to conditions and match situations, not to individual scores over two innings.” Translation: Abhishek will be unleashed again, Netherlands bowlers be warned.

For a player who once made opposition captains fret over which fields could contain him, the next 48 hours represent more than a chance to shake off ducks—they’re an invitation to rekindle the fear factor before India relocate to this same venue for a far more consequential Super Eight date with South Africa on 22 February.

The nation, the dressing room and, quietly, the bowler in the opposing huddle will all sleep easier once Abhishek Sharma’s tournament tally finally moves past zero. Until then, India’s directive remains firm: leave him alone, let him swing.